Sunil Chhetri goals in an India win. It’s happened before. It is what almost always happens. For fans of Indian football , it’s a thing to b...
Sunil Chhetri goals in an India win. It’s happened before. It is what almost always happens. For fans of Indian football, it’s a thing to be taken for granted. Through the lowest of lows and a few remarkable highs, it’s perhaps been the only constant.
So when Chhetri netted a brace against Bangladesh in the Fifa World Cup (and Asian Cup) qualifiers match on Monday to end a personal run of four games without a goal to snap India’s eleven-match winless streak, it felt extra special.
It was the longest run of games that the Indian captain had gone without scoring in for the national team. It was also the team’s longest winless run in a long time. It wasn’t since that 4-1 win over Thailand in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup that India had won a game in which Chhetri had scored.
The Chhetri goals
For large parts during the game on Monday, it seemed that all the unwanted streaks would continue. As India were being held to a draw for the second time in the World Cup qualifiers by a team ranked 79 places below them in the Fifa rankings, Chhetri was guilty of missing big chances. Both headers, both fairly straightforward by his standards.
But just when it seemed that...
